Maverick
Maverick is a steel roller coaster in the Frontiertown area of Cedar Point. The attraction is one of the newest coasters at the park. Ride history After the Halloween season at Cedar Point, their notable White Water Landing attraction was closed. Construction on the park's new attraction quickly commenced. On January 24, 2006, the park filed a trademark for the name Maverick. ''The project was known as "Project 2007" until the announcement of Maverick on September 7, 2006. White Water Landing's track was disassembled. The station and the queue were left over, and now serve as Maverick's photo booth and queue. In February 2006, a month after the trademark was filed, construction workers began to pour concrete footers across the former White Water Landing area and the lagoon that was once occupied by the classic Swan Boats. In May 2006, pieces of track began to arrive in a fenced-off area neighboring one of the park's hotels. The park eventually hid the track segments under blue tarp. On July 16, 2006, the first steel supports for Maverick were placed. A month later, pieces of track started being placed onto the ride. By September, the crest of the Maverick's lift hill was placed, topping off the ride. Track installation was finished on October 28, 2006. Testing began three months later in January of 2007. Delayed openings After testing on Maverick had been complete, Cedar Point announced the ride would open on May 12, 2007. On May 8, four days before the anticipated opening day of Maverick, the park's manager, John Hildebrant, announced Maverick's opening would be delayed until June because several sections of track after the ride's second launch needed to be replaced. The sections of track that were replaced made up Maverick's heartline roll element, which, after testing, was revealed to be extremely intense for riders. Then, nine days later, the ride's heartline roll was removed and replaced by an S-curve. The S-curve was complete by May 24, and the final days of testing and licensing of Maverick began. On that same day, Hildebrant announced that Maverick would be able to open on May 26, 2007. Two days later, on Saturday, May 26, 2007, Maverick officially opened to the park. Ride synopsis Maverick begins with an intense launch that takes the train up a 105-foot hill at a 20-degree angle. After reaching the top of the hill, the train drops 100 feet and reaches speeds of 57mph. The vehicle then turns right, then to the left, and through a canyonside into another right. Riders then go over a 74-foot airtime hill followed by the ride's twisted horseshoe roll, which features two 360-degree corkscrews. The ride then turns to the right, where riders encounter another exhilarating launch at 70mph through a tunnel underneath the ride's station. After exiting the tunnel, the ride turns sharply to the left and another turn to the right that once again takes riders through the rugged canyonside with an S-curve (formerly heartline roll). Water bombs fire off as the train enters the canyonside. The train then goes through a 92-degree overbanked turn below the first hill. The train then turns to the right again and experiences yet another overbanked turn, followed by another airtime hill. Finally, riders turn to the right and enter Maverick's final brake system. Trivia Records *Maverick is the steepest roller coaster at Cedar Point, at 95 degrees. *It is the fourth longest Cedar Point coaster. *Maverick is the third most expensive Cedar Point coaster to build, at over $21 million. *It is the first coaster with a twisted horseshoe roll. Statistics *Blue LED lights illuminate the tunnel. *The ride's tagline is "''The Old West Was Never This Wild". *Maverick can be negatively affected by harsh weather conditions. The ride cannot operate in any kind of steady precipitation. *Maverick has six steam-era style trains with three cars each, thus allowing eighteen riders on one train. *Maverick is themed to horses from the Wild West era. Awards Coaster of the Week *Maverick won the title of Coaster of the Week from June 2, 2013 - June 8, 2013. **Maverick was the first Cedar Point coaster to win the title. **Maverick was also the second Coaster of the Week to hold the #1 spot for two consecutive weeks, following Six Flags Magic Mountain's Full Throttle. Golden Ticket Awards: Best New Ride in 2007 *Maverick won the title of Best New Ride at the Golden Ticket Awards in 2007. NAPHA Survey: Best New Attraction in 2007 *Maverick won the NAPHA Survey for Best New Attraction in 2007. Golden Ticket Awards Mitch Hawker's Best Roller Coaster Poll Photo Gallery mavericklogo.jpg|Maverick's logo. Category:Coaster of the Week Category:Cedar Point Category:2007 Category:Fast Lane Category:Rollercoasters